Who knows? If Joe Montana hadn't been knocked out of the 1993 AFC championship game, the Chiefs might have gone on to the Super Bowl. Instead, no superstar quarterback has switched teams late in his career and led his new team to a Super Bowl victory.

Montana couldn't do it. Brett Favre came close with Minnesota, but he also lost in the championship game. As for comparing these three, Rich Gannon said it's apples and oranges.

"Each situation is different — but there's no question it presents some challenges," said the CBS analyst and former Super Bowl quarterback. "For Peyton, he's got a new play-caller, and there are differences to what they're doing in their system. That can be very unsettling to a guy who has been in one system his entire career. And then he has to get used to the personnel — it's no longer (Pierre) Garcon, (Reggie) Wayne and (Dallas) Clark. That's a challenge.

"And on the flip side of it, (offensive coordinator) Mike McCoy has to find what Peyton's comfortable with, what he likes in certain situations, how he responds to certain things. The offensive line has to get used to his tempo, his pace, his cadence. Receivers have to get timing. And with the changes to the offseason program, it makes it a little more difficult, but I don't think it's a huge concern, because the guy is a tireless worker."

Manning is maniacal. Asked if he's fueled daily by a focus to reach the Super Bowl, Manning said: "Yeah, I am. ... That's our goal as a team every day. That's why we're working hard, that's why we pushed through two-a-days, that's why we'll be lifting weights here, trying to get better. There is a lot of time, and a lot of things are going to happen, between now and when the Super Bowl is played. Our goal right now is to get better this week."

If Manning ends up in his hometown of New Orleans, winning this winter's Super Bowl, he would be one of three signal-callers to start a Super Bowl for two teams (Manning played in two with Indianapolis). The others? Kurt Warner started two for St. Louis and one for Arizona, while, yep, Craig Morton played for the Broncos and Cowboys in the big game. And if he makes it to New Orleans, Manning will join a fraternity of nine other quarterbacks to have started at least three Super Bowls.

But to win it after winning it for another team has never been done (unless you want to get technical and say that quarterback Jim Plunkett won for the Raiders in both Oakland and Los Angeles).

A lot will ride on his teammates. Gannon believes they will have "a heightened sense of awareness and urgency if you're a younger player, knowing, 'Hey, look — we got a special opportunity here. We've got to seize the moment.' And that elevates everybody and makes everybody work harder. I think it's going to be a special season, and I think he's going to get back to playing at a Pro Bowl level, I really do."

We'll see about Super Bowl level.

Close, but not quite

Peyton Manning has accomplished a lot in his career, but now he's trying to do an NFL first — quarterback two different teams to a Super Bowl title.Here are some famous close calls:

Kurt Warner won XXXIV with St. Louis — and seemingly had XLIII won with Arizona — until Ben Roethlisberger's famous game-winning drive.

Joe Montana was already a legend when he led Kansas City to the 1993 AFC championship game, but Montana was knocked out in the third quarter and Buffalo returned to the Super Bowl.

Brett Favre was 1-1 in Super Bowls with Green Bay and led the talented Vikings into New Orleans for the 2009 NFC championship game, which the Saints won in overtime.

Not all kids who play baseball are uniformed with fancy script across their chests, traveling to $1,000 instructional camps and drilled how to properly hit the cut-off man. Some kids just play to play.